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Public Affairs

We keep members informed on matters of public concern that affect our everyday life. WI has representatives on many outside bodies to make sure our voice is heard. Events are organised on Health, Consumer Affairs, International Matters and Science Topics and follow up work is done on resolutions passed at National and County meetings.

News & Campaigns

RESOLUTIONS SHORTLIST 2019

Please note that briefing materials for the resolution shortlist are now available on the NFWI website and on My WI. For each resolution you will find briefing notes, a PowerPoint presentation and a quiz. The aim of these resources is to help members improve their understanding of the issues.

All resolutions that are taken forward for further debate and potential voting at the Annual Meeting must further the NFWI’s charitable objects.

The Forensics Evening at The University of Worcester in September was busy with nearly 200 members attending. Kate Unwin gave a brilliant lecture based on her past and current history as a Forensic Scientist speaking passionately about the recent advances in pathology and DNA in particular. She also organised for members to visit the Scenes of Crime House, (grim and basic) and some of the laboratories (up to date and modern). Refreshments of tea and coffee were available for those who had to come early and then wait for the lecture, some even brought a snack and enjoyed a social time whilst waiting for the lecture. For those who didn’t come through on the ballot, I am pleased to offer those members first refusal for a second date: Monday 8 April. Trudi will be in touch with you shortly and if space allows we can open it up to others.

‘Pack It In’, in the Old Market Hall off the Shambles in Worcester has opened. Mrs Phillipa Gilfillan hopes it will help the town to become more sustainable. By stocking a wide range of both food and non-food products she hopes to help people on their ‘reduction of plastics’ journey.

The Pump House in Barbourne, Worcester (at the back of the Gheluvelt Park) has an Eco Cafe and an In-House Shop that sells environmentally conscious products with a REFILLING SERVICE that saves money and reduces waste.

Please remember the importance of MICROPHONES and loop systems! If you have them use them! Many who are hard of hearing are simply too shy to say they cannot hear and do not want to make a fuss. SO, THEY MISS OUT yet again.
Some of us presume we have loud voices, and these will carry. They don’t. Equally too many of us are shy to use the microphones and that is simply sad.

Happy Christmas to you all and we look forward to sharing many more Public Affairs gatherings during 2019.

Sheena Murray
Chairman

RESOLUTIONS 2017 - END PLASTIC SOUP CAMPAIGN

On October 30th the NFWI launched its new report: In a Spin: How our laundry is contributing to plastic pollution, as part of the End Plastic Soup campaign which calls for solutions to reduce the amount of microplastic fibres entering the oceans. The In a Spin report aims to help build understanding about the amount of synthetic clothing that is regularly washed and the scale of microplastic fibre release. It also sets out recommendations for future action.

The report highlights the urgent need to address knowledge gaps in academic research and an increased awareness among retailers that this is a pressing issue that needs to be tackled as part of their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately, the NFWI is calling for collaborative action from all stakeholders, including government, to recognise the role they have to play in developing solutions.

As part of this collaborative approach, the NFWI chaired a multi-sector stakeholder roundtable in Parliament, hosted by Rebecca Pow MP.
If you wish to Tweet about the report, please use the social media kit and visuals. The hashtags are #EndPlasticSoup and #InaSpin
The report also outlines how WI members can make a difference on the issue (pages 17 & 18):

1. Use the NFWI’s postcard and write to your favourite clothing retailer asking them what they are doing to tackle the issue of microplastic fibres (available in the report on pages 20 and 21 and also available to download on My WI).

2. Use the NFWI’s template MP/AM letter to highlight the report findings and ask for commitment from Government (available to download on My WI).
3. Theme your meeting or AGM around the campaign. Invite speakers to talk to your federation or WI, contact your local university, the Environment Agency, local council or water company to see if they are able to provide speakers.
4. Watch and share on social media the NFWI’s animation using the hashtag #EndPlasticSoup. So far, the animation has received 5.5k views on Facebook! It helps to explain what microplastic fibres are and suggests ways people can make a difference: thewi.org.uk/s/animation
5. Spread the word, please email pa@nfwi.org.uk to request multiple copies of the In a Spin report and Wash and Wear Well checklist to raise awareness!

The report is also available to view online, download it via My WI: thewi.org.uk/s/eps or from the Downloads page of this website.
Please do get in touch with Aanchal Mann, NFWI Public Affairs Administrator if you have any queries.

The NFWI has also produced a new campaign action pack for the Alleviating Loneliness Campaign. This can be downloaded below for your information and to share widely with members. Physical copies were being sent to every WI and federation in the September mailing. The action pack outlines background information on the issues and how members can get involved.

MAKE TIME FOR MENTAL HEALTH

By now, many WIs will have started thinking about ‘our’ Worcestershire campaign and what it means to them locally and more widely. The new campaign action pack has practical and thought provoking suggestions about how individuals can learn more about the different types of mental health problems, and the steps they can take to look after their own mental wellbeing as well as support others. Just starting a conversation with someone by asking them how they are feeling can help by letting that person know you are ready to listen to them. It is as much about their mental health as about their physical health. Time to Change has resources to help you get started and build your confidence. https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/about-mental-health/support-someone (click on ‘my mate’, ‘my colleague’ or ‘my child’.)

2018 WFWI RESOLUTION IS PASSED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING WITH A 98% MAJORITY!

Resolution and campaign for 2018

Mental Health Matters

It is wonderful news that in the Worcestershire Federation’s Centenary year, Callow End’s Resolution arguing that mental health matters as much as physical health was passed at the Annual Meeting on 6 June with a storming 98% majority. So, this vital issue becomes the focus of a new WI campaign and all members will be able to get involved in promoting conversations about mental health and how the issues it raises can be addressed in our society at national, local and individual level.

Louise Jones, the proposer of the Resolution for Callow End WI argued most persuasively for the urgency of this campaign – “we often feel free to talk frankly about our physical health ... (but) many people, both old and young, often feel they will be judged if they say they have a mental health issue”. She concluded, “If this resolution is successful, it will change forever the way we feel about, and discuss, mental health issues. It will cascade knowledge and understanding about mental health through our families, communities and workplaces, and could help lead to a much needed UK wide cultural change”.

Seconding the Resolution, Caroline Hall, Bewdley WI, focused on the ways in which all of us can take action to initiate change. “We can train ourselves to listen actively and recognise even the quietest cry for help. We can learn how to show others that we are open to talking about mental health and how to start these conversations. We can learn how to respond when a confidence is shared, and know what resources are available locally that we can signpost to.”

The expert witness, Andrew Molodynski, Consultant Psychiatrist from Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, gave a powerful and moving exposition of the urgency of the campaign, based on frontline clinical practice and all too troublesome familiarity with pressures on the resources, staff and patients involved in the mental health services. In spite of determined efforts, NFWI had been unable to find anyone willing to oppose the Resolution, and so Mary Clarke, Vice President of NFWI Public Affairs Committee outlined the points which might be considered to counter it.

In the debate which followed from the floor, many cogent points were made in support of the Resolution and giving indicators of areas where the campaign might lead. The debate was moving and heartfelt, leaving no-one who heard it in any doubt of how many lives this campaign might touch. And the final joy of this momentous day was that the afternoon’s Keynote Speaker, Huw Edwards, gave a spontaneous, personal and ringing endorsement of the WI’s campaigning effectiveness, focusing on the 2 issues he perceived as most important to society today: Plastic Soup and Mental Health Awareness. What an end to a wonderful day!

GREEN HEARTS - CLIMATE COALITION SHOW THE LOVE CLIMATE CAMPAIGN

At the Three Counties Show, Sheena Murray and Marjorie Whiting presented all the Green Hearts that had been written on over the last 18 months with concerns for Show the Love Climate Change to Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire. These ranged from the effects of the climate change on the Great Barrier Reef, to the importance of recycling and threats to pollinators and owls. Harriett has written to WI members in Worcestershire to thank them and you can download her letter in full here.

Further News and Campaign items can be found here on the Public Affairs News page.

Public Affairs Committee is always grateful for suggestions on topics and events which are of interest to you. If you would like more information, or help in putting some of these campaigns into action, then contact WI House. Remember this is one of the ways that you can all make a difference for our future!

Does your WI have information which you can share? A photograph and a brief report please send details to Jill at worcswi@yahoo.co.uk